‘You Have a Right to Know What Your Kids are Learning’ School Board Sues, Charges Mother Over $75,000 to See Her Daughter’s Curriculum
On this episode of “The Spillover” I interviewed Nicole Solas, a Rhode Island mother who was fined over $75,000 and eventually sued, simply for asking what her daughter was learning in school.
This mom was willing to do whatever it would take to protect her child from the dangers of Marxist ideology. She explains her journey as she continues to go to great lengths to receive transparency from tax-payer funded institutions that have a responsibility to answer to citizens in their community.
Solas said her daughter’s school “took a position on the George Floyd killing that happened and they sent to this message to the community saying that they stood with Black Lives Matter. They were using really highly political radical language like, ‘we need to have radical empathy, we need to eradicate the school of systemic racism.'”
“I knew that my school was becoming political, but my daughter was 4.”
Nicole Solas
Solas began by calling the school’s principal to ask if the curriculum included gender theory or Critical Race Theory. In an indirect way, the principal confirmed that both were being infused into all lessons, at all ages. The principal told Solas that teachers would not refer to students by gendered terms such as “boys” or “girls” but assured Solas that topics were introduced to children at an “age appropriate level.”
“they [the elementary school] ‘embed the values of gender identity into the class in every grade at an age appropriate level.'”
Nicole Solas
Regarding Critical Race Theory, the principal said that the school has “common practices” and that they teach students a “certain line of history,” including reimagining the first Thanksgiving — presumably to be more ‘inclusive.’
Her growing concern prompted Solas to request more documentation on the information being taught to her daughter, but the school began avoiding her inquiries all together. Finally, the school instructed Solas to submit public records requests if she wanted any further information regarding what her child would be taught in schools.
The records requests varied in fees, from as little as $15 all the way to $9,000 Solas told me. She explained that nothing about this was normal — for a public school to deny a tax-paying parent’s request to see her daughter’s curriculum, she was shocked.
Finally, Solas needed to get the media and a specialized law firm involved to take on the case. The firm she partnered with, the Goldwater Institute, submitted additional public records requests on her behalf. This is when they received a massive $75,000 fee to obtain what was supposedly public information.
“At that point, I was just expected to drop my first-born off at school, not know what the inside of the building looked, like not meet any teachers, not know what she’s learning . . . it was mind-boggling”
Nicole Solas
The school board eventually made the decision to go after Solas in a lawsuit — which she explains in further detail during our conversation.
Solas is one of many parents who got labeled a “domestic terrorist” for simply asking questions, but her full story is so encouraging and energizing because she refuses to back down. She is taking on the school district with the Goldwater Institute and encouraging parents around the country to become more involved in their children’s education.
The left aims to turn adolescents into activists, but they cannot accomplish this if parents are informed and prepared to advocate for their parental rights. Solas prepares parents for the steps ahead, in this episode — that I promise you won’t want to miss — of, “The Spillover.”
“You have a right to know what your kids are learning in school.”
Nicole Solas
